I just finished Richard Rohr's book, The Naked Now. Every time I read one of his books, I think, "This must be his magnum opus." Again, I am blown away.
I have discovered that my pattern of thinking, my perspective, the lenses through which I look at life are flawed. Like everyone, I have inherited a mind tainted by the Fall in the Garden of Eden. It takes, Rohr says, a lot to break through this flawed pattern thinking and feeling. Normally we rock along in life, taking our cues from the world around us.
Generally only two kinds of life experiences can get people to step back and evaluate their lenses of life. Those two experiences are deep love and great suffering. Virtually anyone after a near-death experience gains a new, deeper appreciation for life. Similarly, anyone deeply in love sees all of life differently.
If I want to see life more deeply, I need to suffer or love deeply. Now it is foolish to court suffering. Life naturally brings suffering anyway. But I can choose to love. I can love with abandon. I can love with creativity. I can love unconditionally. I can love on purpose.
That's how I want to take my heart and mind to a new level. The suffering will come too. And that as well will take me deeper.
